Nope! Like you, I thought a trial by jury was guaranteed for all criminal cases. Then a FReeper pointed out (on another thread) that the Supreme Court has arbitrarily decided that the 6th Amendment only applies for offenses punishable by more than 6 months.
I looked it up. He was right! So a person could be charged with, say, eight crimes, each punishable by 6 months, and be denied a jury trial!
So some judge could find him guilty and sentence him to 4 years in prison (8 times 6 months). No jury involved at all.
I really don’t give a good damn what the Supreme Court says, the language in the Constitution is plain as day, and the Supreme Court has zero constitutional authority to change it.